‘I’m back!’ former MP Bradley is made lord

LORD Bradley: “This is a great honour; not just for me but for my family, the local Labour party and this constituency which has supported me over the last 18 years.”

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KEITH Bradley, the former Withington MP, has been made a Westminster peer.

The 55-year-old politician, who held the Withington seat for 18 years, will take his seat in the House of Lords after being named on the first peerage list since last year's General Election.

The honour is a timely boost for Lord Bradley, who lost his south Manchester seat last May after a close-run election defeat by Lib Dem John Leech.

Lord Bradley said: "This is a great honour; not just for me but for my family, the local Labour party and this constituency, which has supported me over the last 18 years."

Lord Bradley - he has not been able to choose his new title as yet - has been given a lifelong baronetcy by the Government's Appointments Commission after a delayed selection process thought to have been caused by the cash-for-peerages furore that engulfed New Labour.

Since losing his seat, Manchester's newest peer has been a presidential advisor at the University of Manchester, but has made no secret of his desire to get back into politics.

His political career started in 1983 when he was elected ward councillor for Old Moat as well as chairman of Manchester City Council's environmental services and licensing committees.

At the same time he was a key player in decisions affecting the Manchester Ship Canal and was a director at Manchester Airport.

When Lord Bradley was elected Withington MP in 1987 it brought to an end years of Tory dominance in the area and set the scene for a distinguished political career. First he was made shadow spokesperson for social security in 1991 and six years later became parliamentary under-secretary of state for social security under the New Labour government.

In 1998 he was appointed deputy chief whip and Treasurer of the Queen's Household, and in 2001 was made a privy councillor and Home Office minister.

As a member of the Health Select Committee, Lord Bradley was a key supporter of the new Withington Community Hospital and championed Christie Hospital in parliament.

Ironically, it was the Christie issue that Lib Dems used against Lord Bradley in the run-up to the General Election last year. It ultimately lost him his seat after John Leech's election campaign group claimed Christie's future would be in danger under a New Labour government.

This was the latest in a series of setbacks for the veteran politician that began with public criticism over his choice of school for his eldest son Jonathan.

Many thought that, true to his Labour roots, Lord Bradley was wrong to allow his son an 'elite' education at Manchester Grammar School.

He also came under fire from political opponents for his apparent support of the Iraq War. In fact, Mr Bradley had backed military action in the Middle East only on condition that there was proof positive Saddam Hussein was harbouring weapons of mass destruction.

His nadir came in the nail-biting election defeat last May after a vigorous election campaign by the Lib Dems. Lord Bradley's old constituency office on Burton Road is now a beauty salon complete with masseuses and skin therapy.

Though no longer an MP, grammar school-educated Lord Bradley - who lives in Didsbury with his wife Rhona and has three children Jonathan, 18, Rebecca, 15, and Matthew, 10 - says his new position in the House of Lords will provide him with another platform to represent the interest of south Manchester people.

Most notably, he will be resuming his campaign to bring the Metrolink to south Manchester.

He said: "We need to make sure the new tramlines come to this area as soon as possible. I am certain that with improved negotiations we can bring the line to south Manchester and onwards to Didsbury because that is what people want."

Lord Bradley will also be continuing his work with the university and 'working for the interests of the city on the same issues as I did as an MP'.

He added: "Improved health care will still be high on my agenda as well as my work on cancer issues, which I am doing through the university."